Wednesday, 4 April 2012

On
Sunday, four of the seven teens believed to have viciously attacked a
61-year-old man two weeks ago in Gothenburg were ordered held on remand,
while the victim is still fighting for his life in hospital.

The boys, who are aged between 15 and 16, were ordered held on suspicion
of aggravated assault in the beating of 61-year-old Carl-Eric
Cedvander, who was left unconscious in a fountain in a town square.

Another three younger boys who were involved have been taken into
custody by social services due to their age, but remain suspected of
having a role in the attack.

On Tuesday, the Aftonbladet newspaper reported that video surveillance
cameras may have captured the event, with the tapes having been
collected by police in hopes they will provide them with a better
understanding what happened in the beating, which has has left Cedvander
hovering between life and death in a coma ever since.

The attack, which occurred in Kortedala
Torg on March 18th, has left other residents embittered and calling for
action, and police are concerned that talks of a demonstration against
violence may boil over into an anti-immigrant protest.

"We see that racist websites blame foreigners in general after what
happened. It makes me angry, and we need to monitor developments
carefully," said the police's Bertil Claesson to Aftonbladet.

"Protests against violence are good, a sign of health, but we don't want it to become a protest out of hatred."

The fountain in the square where the attack took place has been turned
into a makeshift memorial for Cedvander, as Gothenburg residents have
reacted strongly to the attacks, but also against the onlookers who
allegedly did little to help.

While witness reports suggest that the matter was over in a matter of
minutes, bystanders did little more than yell at the gang of teens.

The four boys, who all attend Hjällbo high school, denied initial suspicions of attempted murder.

However, one of the teens has admitted to certain aspects of the attack.

"He admits that he used a certain amount of violence, but said the man
attacked him first," the boy's lawyer, Per Söderberg, told the Göteborgs
Tidning (GT) newspaper.

Formal charges are expected to be filed against the boys by April 13th.